I ignored them for most of the game as they all seemed very dull, now I'm going back through and trying to mop things up I've still not encountered anything that has changed my opinion on them.

They all seem to be very trite to me: "Bring me an apple", "Bring me some wood", "Go kill a Hinox", "Show me a picture". The reward is almost always disappointing as well - "Here's a bunch of rupees that you don't need". There's never any weight or value or significance to anything you are doing - either from a gameplay or narrative perspective.

I don't really care that much as it's not the focus of the game, but it would have been nice if they put a bit more effort into the side quests. And it's not like Nintendo don't know how to do it in Zelda - some of the stuff in Majora's Mask was really well put together and actually had you doing things that mattered!

I ignored them for most of the game as they all seemed very dull, now I'm going back through and trying to mop things up I've still not encountered anything that has changed my opinion on them.

They all seem to be very trite to me: "Bring me an apple", "Bring me some wood", "Go kill a Hinox", "Show me a picture". The reward is almost always disappointing as well - "Here's a bunch of rupees that you don't need". There's never any weight or value or significance to anything you are doing - either from a gameplay or narrative perspective.

Did you buy the house in Hateno Village? That starts a sidequest that has you build up in stages an entire settlement. If you haven't done that I would recommend doing so!

Another sidequest I really enjoyed (I've spoken about this before) was the simple task of following a bottle down the river from Zora's domain. It's a cute little setup, but more importantly it tasks you with making use of the game's systems in a neat way because of the constraint of following this bottle that is carried along by the game's physics.

I think that's typical of most of the sidequests in BOTW - they're not meant as great narratives, but as almost tutorials in showing you specific systems. They nudge the player towards parts of the game that they might not otherwise experiment with, be that systems (e.g. cooking) or area discovery (e.g. the leviathan bones side quest).

Having said that, there are also side quests with good and tangible rewards, like the royal horse or the giant horse.

I ignored them for most of the game as they all seemed very dull, now I'm going back through and trying to mop things up I've still not encountered anything that has changed my opinion on them.

They all seem to be very trite to me: "Bring me an apple", "Bring me some wood", "Go kill a Hinox", "Show me a picture". The reward is almost always disappointing as well - "Here's a bunch of rupees that you don't need". There's never any weight or value or significance to anything you are doing - either from a gameplay or narrative perspective.

Did you buy the house in Hateno Village? That starts a sidequest that has you build up in stages an entire settlement. If you haven't done that I would recommend doing so!

Another sidequest I really enjoyed (I've spoken about this before) was the simple task of following a bottle down the river from Zora's domain. It's a cute little setup, but more importantly it tasks you with making use of the game's systems in a neat way because of the constraint of following this bottle that is carried along by the game's physics.

I think that's typical of most of the sidequests in BOTW - they're not meant as great narratives, but as almost tutorials in showing you specific systems. They nudge the player towards parts of the game that they might not otherwise experiment with, be that systems (e.g. cooking) or area discovery (e.g. the leviathan bones side quest).

Having said that, there are also side quests with good and tangible rewards, like the royal horse or the giant horse.

Also surely everyone loves rounding up cuccos??

Yes the quest following the bottle was a bit of a change of pace which was nice. I've bought the house in Hateno - that was a pretty dull event in itself. Just going through the motions of asking him to build all the bits for it brought back how tedious some of the user interface and interaction is in the game - just build it all now please!!! I've travelled to where the new town is being built but so far my hopes aren't high - it still seems to be another fetch quest so far - "Bring me 10 bundles of wood"... ugh not again!

I am being unfair to the game to a degree - the game I have enjoyed most over the last few years was Witcher III and, for me, that pushed narrative, character and the significance of even bit part NPCs and quests to such a new high level that playing BOTW shortly afterwards was a bit jarring!

Like I say I accept that the game is about exploration of and interaction with the environment and systems that you are given, and I love that. That kind of game is just what I like - I'm a systems kind of guy! I just wish they had paired that with a capable narrative and interesting quests as well - basically I want the moon on a stick!

I'm going to keep on working my way through the quests, hopefully this village building one will show me something new, but mainly as a way to encourage me to continue enjoying the wider game rather than the rewards and enjoyment of doing the quests themselves!

I forgot to mention that I upped my health to four stars in The Temple of Time before leaving the Plateau.

When I started in this new area, a *ton* of sidequest titles appeared, including one called Xenoblade Chronicles 2 . Right... I'm now going to walk across the plains in Hyrule Kingdom for the first time!

...wow. I'm taking my first steps into the Kingdom and I'm amazed by the scale of it. I was creeping up on a fox, just ready to pull the trigger... when a massive stone golum appeared behind me and I had to run! This is incredible .

Edit: I'm in Hyrule Field . I've spent a *lot* of time here in the past...

Edit: Entered the first shrine that I found (Bosh Kala, the "wind control" one) and I had to look up help on the net . I was thinking that I had to use one of the rune powers but all I needed to do was use the glider, which I'd forgotten about after not having it for most of the journey so far. I'm gonna have to engage my brain a bit more!

OrangeRakoon wrote:Side quests are good fun, but there is no point getting all the koroks

This.

The reward for getting them all is literally a golden gooseberry fool.

Yeah I knew this, such a massive troll

Depends how long it takes me to do Eventide

If you're still looking for a challenge but aren't sure about the Koroks then you can go for the boss medals. Involves a lot of world exploration but doesn't go to the level of requiring maps and guides to the extent that seeking out the Koroks does.

On the subject of the 900 Koroks, people seem to take pleasure in pointing out you're not supposed to get all of them, like that's some kind of insightful observation on the games design and a jibe at those who did.

As someone who did end up seeking them all out I'd say go for it if you're having fun with the game and don't want to stop. That's why I went after them and I discovered a whole bunch of extra stuff in the world in the process, which was the real reward. It only really becomes a slog for the last 100 or so when you have to get real precise.

It's something to keep you in the world if you don't want to leave but the boss medals and completing the compendium are perhaps more rewarding and entertaining endeavours.